Malik's response to Yousuf's allegations

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Malik denies interest in Pakistan captaincy
Cricinfo staff

February 12, 2010

Shoaib Malik, Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain for the two games against England, has said he has no interest in leading the side and would prefer to play and perform as a normal member of the side. Malik was made captain by the board following the banning of regular leader Shahid Afridi for two matches after he was found guilty of tampering the ball during an ODI in Australia.

But in a meeting with chairman PCB Ijaz Butt on Thursday, Malik apparently made a request to not be captain for both games and allow Afridi to take the reins for the second game when his ban ends. “I have no interest in the captaincy of Pakistan,” Malik told reporters in Lahore. “I just want to play and play well, do well and help Pakistan win matches. I met the chairman yesterday and the meeting went well.”

Malik was captain of Pakistan in all three formats till February last year, when he was removed following an ODI series defeat to Sri Lanka. A report by the management and coach of the time found him to be “aloof” and a “loner” and unfit to lead Pakistan.

Since then Malik has been a peripheral figure in the side, often hitting solid form but being dropped readily for low scores. He was in and out of the side through the long tours to New Zealand and Australia. But he has been at the centre of a steady string of hints and allegations from two subsequent captains for being a disruptive influence on the side.

First Younis Khan, who stepped down from the post following an ODI series loss to New Zealand last November, said he had lost control over his players; Malik’s name cropped up regularly at the time from a number of people within the team set-up as being one of those at the front of Younis’ complaints.

Then, after the tour to Australia, Mohammad Yousuf, who took over from Younis, pinpointed the role of one person in disrupting unity within the team through the tour. Though no name was taken, it was widely speculated that he was referring to Malik, with whom he has had an icy relationship from the time he was dropped from the World Twenty20 squad in 2007 when Malik was captain.

Malik seemed to confirm that he was the target of Yousuf’s ire by responding to those very allegations and launching his own attack, again without naming Yousuf. He said he wants to speak to the inquiry committee looking into the reasons behind Pakistan’s disastrous Australian tour.** The six-man committee, headed by Wasim Bari, the board COO, began work today by interviewing Shahid Afridi and the team manager Abdur Raqueeb.

“I requested the chairman to let me have my say in front of the inquiry committee,” Malik said. “I want to ask you guys one thing. If you compare the spirit in the first seven matches on the Australian tour to the spirit you saw in the last two matches, what was the difference? Wasn’t it a totally different side? And who wasn’t playing in those last two games?” Yousuf missed the last ODI in Perth and isn’t a part of Pakistan’s T20I squad.

Malik took a further dig at Yousuf’s leadership, saying he would’ve attacked more during the fateful final day of the Sydney Test. Yousuf was widely criticised for the defensive fields he set when Michael Hussey and Peter Siddle added 123 runs for the ninth wicket, allowing Australia to set Pakistan 176 for victory, having been effectively 80 for 8 when the fourth day began.

"I think we should’ve attacked more at Siddle and Hussey. We didn’t and that is why we lost. We need to stop making excuses about why we lost and just go out on to the field and perform and give our full effort. I don’t believe in making excuses, I believe only in giving my best efforts on the field. I don’t need to justify myself, I just try and do that on the ground with my performances."

link - Malik denies interest in Pakistan captaincy | Pakistan Cricket News | Cricinfo.com

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Re: Malik's response to Yousuf's allegations

Very, very well said by Malik. Exactly what I have been saying all along. He's dead right about the fact that the whole team doesnt want to play under Yousuf and Yousuf is only pinpointing Malik for ALL problems. Obviously, like I was saying before, Yousuf is only saving his own ass and wants the sympathy from the Jazbaati Pakistani awaam and he's taking advantage of his 'bhola bhaala, seedha insaan, aam aadmi' look.

Gumshuda Gappyies
Gumshuda Gappyies
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Re: Malik's response to Yousuf's allegations

Malik doesn't want to be captain but he only wants to create rifts in the team, he would've "attacked" more on the Sydney test yet he couldn't do such "attacks" when he was captaining the side, what was the result of games against SL ODIs and Tests? Its easier said than done dude!

His "don't want to captain" is more of an "after-thought" now.

Aliens..
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Re: Malik's response to Yousuf's allegations

^ Dont critisize Malik for the sake of critisizing. Did Malik lose a test as captain after being in such a commanding position like Pakistan was in Sydney? Yeah, he didnt do well as a test captain either but dont blame him for stating the facts. Yousuf didnt even own up to his fault at the Sydney test saying he even talked to Waqar Younis before deciding to set up such pathetic and retarded fields for Siddle.

Malik was found to be a loner and aloof even when he was captain...he is a mere nobody in the team, I dont understand why people label him to be such a political and trouble making person.

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I am not criticizing Malik just for the sake of it, had he shown good performance against weaker oppositions like SL I would've given credit to him but we all know what happened there. Whatever position we were against Aussies was mainly due to our bowling, we ruined every chance by either bad fieldings or bad batting. I don't want Yousuf to continue as captain because of his lacklustre performance, lack of thought process but Malik criticizing Yousuf would've made sense if he had something to show for it.


We are not saying it, it has been brought up couple of times, even Intikhab Alam warned Yousuf against Malik when he took the reigns from Younis. Malik definitely is creating problems for captains.

Ranger arrested Dr. Hasan Zafar Arif - Found dead(update)
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Re: Malik’s response to Yousuf’s allegations

We still don’t know who that “one” person is. Why would Malik respond to Yousuf’s comments? Or is he admitting that he is the chosen one? It could very well be Akmal. :hmmm:

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Malik should have stayed quiet. there was no need to stoop to maulana Yousuf's level.

Is marriage a bad idea these days?
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Re: Malik's response to Yousuf's allegations

I think everyone is missing the point here. A player does not and should not have the OPTION of deciding whether he'll perform 100% or not depending on how much he likes/hates the captain. If a captain has been appointed, regardless of how dumb, defensive, spineless he is.. you are supposed to obey him and always give your 100%.

This is complete BS when the players decide since they don't like Yousuf, they're just going to perform badly. All such players should be kicked out of the team regardless of stature.

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Re: Malik's response to Yousuf's allegations

^ your missing the point here as well. The team didn't lose on purpose. What Malik is talking about is spirit. The players on the field are led by example by their captain. If you watched the matches then you would know exactly what I'm talking about. Yousuf is an extremely defensive and sissy captain and when he leads the team all the players become defensive mainly because of his very defensive field settings. Plus, the less said the better of what Yousuf would except from his fielders...look at his own fielding...instead of improving it keeps getting worse.

Batting is a genuine problem, and we all saw even when Afridi was captain for the last ODI and Malik was captain for the T20, the batting still remained a problem. But the huge difference was that players looked motivated on field and seemed like actually wanting to win rather than just going through the motions.

We have young, very talented, wanting to do well players in our squad and Yousuf's lazy approach to the game in all aspects is no hidden secret. The players NEED and WANT a captain who also wants to excel in every aspect of the game, practise's hard and is aggressive and not afraid of the opposition.

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Re: Malik's response to Yousuf's allegations

^ Inzi was not great fielder either

Where are you travelling this holiday season?
Where are you travelling this holiday season?
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why do all these rules apply only when Younis or maulana Yousuf are captain? where did all these rules go when Malik was captain?

when Malik's captain, it was okay for Afridi to keep giving non-stop biayanat against him? when Malik's captain, it was okay to for maulana Yousuf aka Super Patriot to publicly bash the captain and head off to India to play ICL gulli danda? when Malik's captain, it's okay for Akhtar to not bend down and pick up the ball when it came to him?

honestly, while Malik hasn't covered himself in glory, maulana Yousuf hardly has a good track record himself when it comes to discipline and supporting the captain. he has shown absolutely no team ethic whatsoever in his last few interviews.

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Re: Malik’s response to Yousuf’s allegations

maybe maulana sahib isn’t the angel that Malik-haters believe he is? but what’s surprising about that. whenever there’s a beard, you know trouble can’t be far behind…

and let the games begin.

‘Captaincy, discipline problems led to defeats’](The News International: Latest News Breaking, World, Entertainment, Royal News)

Saturday, February 13, 2010
LAHORE: A team manager’s report on Pakistan’s disastrous tour of Australia blamed defensive captaincy by Mohammad Yousuf and discipline problems for the debacle.

Pakistan were whitewashed 3-0 in Tests and 5-0 in one-day matches before going down in the only Twenty20 match on their tour of Australia which ended on February 5.

The defeats forced chief selector Iqbal Qasim to resign from his post, while the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) formed a six-man evaluation committee to ascertain the reasons for the defeats.

Coach Intikhab Alam and wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal were also axed from the 14-man squad for two Twenty20 matches against England in Dubai on February 19 and 20.

The committee, minus Wasim Akram, who excused himself from attending for personal reasons, discussed tour manager Abdul Raqeeb’s report on Friday, a copy of which was acquired by AFP.

“Yousuf, a world class player, failed as captain because of his defensive approach,” said the report, which also mentioned two separate incidents when Yousuf disputed his axing from the team.

On the first occasion, Yousuf was dropped from the team for the third one-day international against New Zealand — a series played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) preceding the twin tours of New Zealand and Australia.

“Yousuf finding his name missing from the playing eleven started arguing with coach Alam that on what grounds ‘I have been dropped.’ Alam replied that he has been dropped because of poor fielding.”

Younis Khan led Pakistan in the UAE series before withdrawing from the New Zealand tour and Test series against Australia due to lack of form. Yousuf replaced Younis for the tour of New Zealand and Australia.

The other incident occured before the fifth and final one-day against Australia when Yousuf initially withdrew but wanted to play later.

The report also mentioned a heated argument between pacemen Umar Gul and Mohammad Aamir during the second Test in Wellington.

“Since Gul is very experienced cricketer, Aamir should not have confronted him in the field. However in my opinion both the players acted in an irresponsible manner. As such I have taken the action and fined one hundred thousand rupees each,” Raqeeb said in the report.

In an another incident of ill-discipline, young batsman Umar Akmal was blamed for giving a media interview without the manager’s permission before the Hobart Test when he was undergoing examination for apparent back strain.

“The committee is requested to assess the entire situation and impose a heavy fine on Akmal so that he can become a lesson to others.”

The report said the appointment of former paceman Waqar Younis had caused confusion among the players.

“He (Waqar) is an ex-world class cricketer but in my opinion his induction was unnecessary. Players got confused as to whom to follow. They got divided between the coach and the consultant.”

Pakistan’s poor fielding and batting was also highlighted.

“We dropped at least 30 simple catches during the six Test matches played on the two tours. Our players are not mentally tough, they succumb to the pressure easily and batsmen, including Yousuf, got out to reckless shots.

The manager also suggested deduction of points on poor performance and a strong captain to lead the team.

Ghost..
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Are you serious? Do you honestly think Yousuf even has 1% of the match winning ability which Inzi had? Inzi was NEVER a great captain or fielder but he had a unique quality that he could always somehow gel a team together. Plus, how many times has he come out pressure situations and delivered for Pakistan when it mattered most? Yousuf has always failed in crunch situations even as a batsmen alone. Plus Malik played a lot under Inzi well...I wonder why he wasn't supposedly causing all this trouble and grouping at that time since he is such a trouble maker

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Re: Malik's response to Yousuf's allegations

Well said Samb!

Also, even when Malik was let go as captain the team managment wrote in their report that Malik was a loner and aloof. He hardly talked to other players and had no authority in the team. A guy who was a loner even when he was captain would be now creating all these groups in the team? It makes no sense at all.

He had no authority and no one listened to him even when he was captain, do people really think other players really give him that much importence now?

Seventh Sense or what??
Seventh Sense or what??
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Who said it's okay? In fact I argued the exact opposite.. that it's NOT OKAY for any player to disobey the captain and cause disharmony in the team.

Pedophile Molvi of Pakistan
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The advantage that Inzi had was that he was the senior-most player by far in the team, and earned tremendous amount of respect, not just from the players, but from PCB administration as well.

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Malik was let go because of his defensive approach and insipid leadership and captaincy. These are precisely the qualities that Yousuf will be let go for.

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The players did have a captain in Younis who wanted to excel in every aspect of the game, practiced hard and was aggressive and not afraid of the opposition. However, the players revolted against him, most likely due to Malik's shenanigans, as other people have pointed out. Malik has had his stint as captain and it was nothing to write home about. What changed to cause the players look so 'motivated' under Malik now?

Pedophile Molvi of Pakistan
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yeah that aggressive, hardworking, fearless captain also had all the emotional maturity of a 14 year old girl.

I lost the toss... and I'm resigning from captaincy. somebody ate all my niswaar, I'm resigning from captaincy. nobody came to my party. I'm resigning from captaincy. somebody made me wait outside his office, I'm resigning from captaincy. a senate committee asked me to appear before them, I'm resigning... why? because I'm a bigass crybaby.

and o meray bhai, I know you hate Malik. but get real. this is real life - not some Bollywood filam. as a Malik fan, I wish he had as much pull as his haters claim. if he had it, he wouldn't have failed at making the team gel when he was captain.

Chaiholics
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:biggthumb: i agree wih this post. it seems like afridi and malik may have resolved things. after being banned, afridi wanted malik to be captain. yet, yousuf claims that he and afridi noticed the one specific player’s negative body language. if the “one player” yousuf is talking about is malik, then it seems like afridi didn’t care. weren’t malik and yousuf bff once?